Tiding Over

I had intended to do a big update on the kitchen progress but we've been running a little low on storage space on the computer. So instead of uploading lots of photos and editing and posting, this is what my screen currently looks like:

We finally bit the bullet and purchased a 3Tb external hard drive so I am doing our first ever time machine backup while simultaneously clearing out a much smaller (128Gb, I think) portable hard drive that will solely be used for photo backup. 

And this doesn't even begin to touch on the Reindl sibling visit last weekend in which we (meaning all 5 of us -- it was a pass-the-camera sort of weekend) took at least 500 photos over a day and a half time period. 

Struggling to find storage space for all of my 16.2mega pixel camera photos is certainly what I would call a first world problem.

In the meantime, I'll have to get by with yet more smartphone photos. What was I saying above about first world problems.

Anyway.

House pics:

 The late night-ish floor sanding started last Wednesday with the large and relatively easy-to-use drum sander rented from Home Depot.

 I'm pretty sure I could have handled the machine but once Michael got in a rhythm, I just let him go with it. 

 This is what you call a brave kitty. The sander was extremely loud but his curiosity got the better of his concerns. He came in an plopped down next to me for a good chunk of the sanding.

On Tuesday (after the visitors left) we rented the edge sander which was much more unruly and difficult to use. We managed though and now we just need to finally purchase a palm sander to get back in the corners and we'll be ready to wax!

 In other news, a good knitting friend, Sharon offered up these lovely chairs for free last week. We jumped all over the offer thinking: "We'll finally have somewhere for guests to sit other than our super-saggy couch!" but as you can see here, the animals are of the thinking that the chairs are just for them. Don't worry if you visit though, they'll gladly share if you scratch their ears/cheeks.

As a preview of the Reindl siblings weekend visit I offer up this photo of three gigantic goblets of beer served to us Friday afternoon at the super-delicious Fuzzy's Taco Shop.

And now, I'm off to the mechanics to have my exhaust system strapped to the bottom of my car once and for all!

Vogler Visit-A-Palooza

My Mom, Malena, my Dad, and all of his tools arrived just about two weeks ago.  

 Give my dad a week and his tools (and 24 hr access to the house that you're not evening living in yet) and before you know it, 

 Every pipe that runs though your basement will be found lying on the floor of said basement.

 Yup, every one. 

 And you'll find him tinkering with the circuit box. 

 This is our pretty new plumbing stack. This wasn't courtesy of my dad but of the sellers and a great plumber.

 Here are more pipes lying in the (one full) bathroom floor.

 And just when we get on a roll (in this case, tearing down the kitchen soffit and just about to slice his ear open)

 Michael comes home and informs you that his car is "broken",

 As in, makes a grating noise every time he tries to brake. So they spend the next couple hours taking off tires,

 And having the car fall off the jack (but thankfully, hot hurting anyone aside form a few scrapes), and eventually getting it fixed (Michael now knows how to change brakes!).

 Malena made herself at home, as always.

 And right when we were getting into the plumbing groove, I had a freak accident where I dropped a piece of copper pipe that I was in the process of cutting on the spigot of our hot water heater. Water surged out of the heater and it was unusable for the next 3 or so days that it took us to locate a new spigot and a tap to make some new threads. 

 The soffit is almost gone!

 And on to the most dreaded part of the week (as soon as we were able to find another strapping young man to help us), moving my 500lb mixer into the basement. 

 Smooth so far

 There's bits of kitchen debris in the wheelburrow, lumber for our raised-bed garden and a big mixer all occupying our back yard.

 The scariest part, down the stairs.

 Mischief managed

 And there's a mixer in my basement! (and new copper pipe behind!)

 Hello best friend. Too bad I have no oven to bake anything I make in you.

 Later on: stretching and petting 

 And more petting

 Why won't anyone play wiffle ball with me?

 It's didn't take long for Malena to usurp the couch.

 Raised-bed garden going in

 And 8 heirloom tomato plants to go in the garden.

 We had another puppy visitor, I just had to see Fozzie (and Carolyn) before the move to DC.

 Slowly, slowly filling up.

And on our last night together, Malena got to go to a restaurant with and clean all of those yummy plates.

Thank you SO MUCH Mom and Dad! Without you coming out to visit, we'd have no garden planted and terrible water pressure!

Be Still My Heart

 It's been a good week for talking to some of my favorite (non-Saint Louis) girls in the world. Really, the only one I've missed is Meg (Meg, if you're reading this, we need to g-chat) but that's beside the point.

The point is that a great e-mail chain regarding very pretty clothes/shoes was started this morning by one lovely sister-in-law (Laura) and Kathia (another lovely sister-in-law) and I have kept it going. 

By the way, this is a terrible photo of me, but the only one I could find. We need a better pic of the 3 of us ASAP!

 There's been lots of discussion of vintage style, wedge shoes and my current obsession, these new boots:

And the discussion reminded me that I've not shown them off on the blog. They're Frye Jane 14 Stitch boots and they're divine. And yes, the first place I noticed them was over at the Pioneer Woman blog but at the time, I never thought I would want them due to an irrational fear of wearing heeled shoes for long periods of time. Of course, I fear has been abated because these shoes (after the first "stretching-out" day) are crazy comfortable!

They're not cheap by any means, and it took lots of soul-searching and prodding by friends much more fashionable than I, but I finally bit the bullet and bought them. They are absolutely going to last me for the next 20 years.

I love them.

If only we were experiencing a normal spring and not this unseasonably warm one (have I complained enough about the weather yet?), I may not have taken these off until May. Alas, boots and hot, sweaty feet do not mix, at least not in my book.

On a side note, you can see the extreme difference in quality between our old camera and my new favorite toy (the Nikon D7000) in this post. Whoa! Huge difference!

The Triumphant Return

My, it's been a long and crazy couple of months. 

Here's a bit of what you missed:

(OK, maybe more than a bit.)

 Our joint Christmas presents

 Christmas presents to one another

 A Christmas dinner of truffle-stuffed chicken (a.k.a. poulet demi-deuil or chicken in half-mourning)

And a statue cat watching over the feast

 A long trip home to visit the [kitty] grandparents

 A fun-filled visit with family

 And friends

 And Roman!

 The hanging of a vintage Peruvian tapestry (Thanks, D&K!)

 My recent obsession with knitting socks

 Finally finishing some Pinterest Christmas ornaments

 "The best hot chocolate in the world"...not really, but it was decent

(With my dear foodie-friend Lucy)

 A pâte à choux stealing (1-year-old!!!) kitten

 Some amazing Japanese beer, sake

And sushi

 St Louis' first (and maybe last) snow of the season

 Being social at Plush

The beginning of an epic knitted quilt

(which will be documented as it progresses over the next 20 or so years)

And more socializing for Kevin's Birthday at Diablitos

Along with the crazyness of the past few months there has been a trend of eating to much bad food. I know it comes with the territory of traveling home and celebrating the holidays but we need to get our eating habits back on track. 

To kick-start the change, we've made a plan to spend at least the next month eating a pescetarian (mostly vegetarian) diet. We already have some favorite veggie-centric meals in our repertoire but I'm planning to seek out lots of new recipes. I'll be sharing our favorites, new and old on here in case anyone else is feeling the post-holiday sluggishness as well. 

And along with this already exciting plan for the near future of the blog, we'll also be detailing our first splash into the real estate market here in Saint Louis. Eek!